The Child in the Wall
by SarahShalomDavid
Summary: Strange things have been happening at NCIS, and Kate soon finds out the cause but it changes her life forever.


[Written via role play with another writer]

It was cold outside as the snow began to fall all around Washington, D.C. The team had just finished a case and most of the employees in the building had gone home for the night.

Many strange things had been happening over the past week, it had started shortly after Ari broke into autopsy and was consequently shot.

Abby was sure that it meant there were ghosts in the building and that was the cause of the strange goings on lately.

Food had gone missing from desks, and drawers along with a lamp from Jethro's desk, and one of his jackets along with Abby's stuffed Hippo called 'Bert' although that had been returned rather rapidly. Often there were reports of noises coming from the vents but the noise would come and go so fast that people assumed it had been someone else they worked with or that they simply thought they heard something when they hadn't.

Abby however was rather wrong on her assumption of it being a ghostly entity. In between the walls of SecNav and Jennifer Shepherd's office was a cavity that was about a metre wide and about 5 metres long. It was connected to the air ducts that were connecting every room in the building through an intricate pattern of metal tunnels.

She had been living in there ever since Ari had broken in, he had taken her with him and got her to climb into the vent in order for her to hide from the agents. It wasn't a way to protect her because in actual fact he planned to abandon her there considering her to be a nuisance and a liability when it came to his 'work'.  
She had dark hair that cascaded down the sides of her face, and her bright blue eyes shone brightly. Her tanned skin covered by the N.C.I.S jacket she had obtained from Jethro's desk, along with the jeans and top that she had arrived in.

When she was an infant she had been taken from her mother; Ziva David in Israel. Eli David and deemed her a distraction to Ziva and supposedly wanting the best for his daughter, he had removed the child from the situation and handed her over to Thalia. However when Thalia passed away, that meant that Ari was 'lumbered' with the child.

Sarah was a timid little girl, who was curled up in the cavity. She snuck her head out of the cavity into the tunnel to listen to see if anyone was still there. She didn't hear a thing and so silently began to crawl her way along the vent to check visually if there were anyone there.

Kate along with everyone else had found the events extremely odd, annoying none the less. Granted she knew these occurrences weren't paranormal in any way, but she still couldn't come to a logical assumption as to why these things were going missing as if out of thin air. Kate had headed back up to SecNav to grab a file she had left up there earlier, but she froze once she heard something in the ducts. She stayed completely silent now as she stood there, her eyes now glued to the entrance to the duct.

Thinking that nobody was there because she hadn't heard anyone enter and she knew that the techs had gone home from the night she snuck slowly out of the venting system and rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the dimmed light of the screen. She saw Kate and froze, she had been caught. She had managed not to be caught for months. Ari had told her to hide and stay hidden.

She stood there a moment completely baffled. Out of all the things that could of possibly come out of that vent, a child hadn't crossed her mind once. She then crouched down in front of the girl, "So you've been the one taking out stuff huh?" Her voice was calm, and she even smiled as she spoke.

She looked down, her eyes sparkling slightly with tears, "I'm sorry" she whispered softly. She had once taken a chocolate bar from Kate's desk but felt guilty and replaced it with one from a different agent's desk. Out of all the agents, she rather liked Kate.

She sighed a little once she realized the child was starting to cry. Kate wasn't to fond of children, mostly because they all seemed to hate her, but seeing one cry hurt more than anything. "Don't be sweetheart, I'm just glad I finally know who the culprit is... You can't live off of candy bars you know, you need actual food."

She tilted her head slightly, but moved forwards gradually. She was rather timid but found herself trusting the woman in front of her.

"I always assumed Tony was the one stealing the food... It wouldn't be the first time anyway." She said shaking her head a little. "How long have you been hiding in there anyway?"

She giggled at her comment about Tony and her eyes sparkled a little, she wasn't sure how long she had been there though, "Ari leave me here" she said softly not knowing it had been months since he broke in.

Her eyes widened a little then. "Oh my god.. You poor thing." She said sympathetically. "Would you like to come with me? I was just getting ready to head out and grab a bite to eat, and I'd love to have some company."

Sarah gradually hugged Caitlin, although nervous she did trust her and found herself feeling safe with her. She nodded gently.

Kate wrapped her arm around the child in a small embrace. "Well let's get going then, you're probably starving." She said softly

She smiled leaning into Kate, she had relaxed and her tears were long gone although tracks were still on her face.

Kate stood up then, taking the young girl's hand into her own as they headed back downstairs. "Your parents must be worried sick about you, I know I would be."

Sarah shook her head, "No, my auntie was looking after me but she died so uncle Ari looked after me but he didn't want me anymore" she said as though it were the most normal thing in the world. She knew no different.

"That's not surprising coming from him." She said with a small sigh once they approached her desk. Kate then grabbed her bag and together the two of them headed to the elevator. "Why didn't you tell anyone you were there? We would of been more than happy to help you."

Sarah was confused by that question, "Ari tell me... Hide and stay hidden", she looked down, "He scare me"

"He scares a lot of people honey, but not us. We wouldn't let him hurt you." She said as they headed towards her car

Sarah looked down, "but he hurt auntie Thalia"

Once they reached Kate's car, she crouched down in front of the girl again, looking into her eyes as she spoke "Regardless of what he's done, we wouldn't let him touch a hair on your head... and that's a promise."

Sarah nodded trusting the woman, and threw herself into her arms in a tight embrace.

Kate embraced the child back just as tight, even giving her a small kiss on the head before she helped her into the car. "Now what are you hungry for? We'll get whatever you want." She said as she buckled the child in.

Sarah sat thinking, she wasn't sure what she wanted, "Chocolate?" she said with a grin

Kate let out a slight laugh then. "Maybe after, but I'm talking about real food sweetheart. Anything else you can think of?"

Sarah bit her lip trying to think of something, "I don't know" she said as she looked at her

"That's perfectly fine, I'll think of something." She said with a smile before she shut the car door and got in the drivers seat

Sarah smiled and curled up in the seat watching what Kate was doing

They soon arrived at a restaurant not far from NCIS, she pulled into the parking lot and turned off the car before turning back around to the child. "I still don't know your name."

She smiled brightly, "Sarah" her eyes sparkled.

"Pretty name." She said softly "that's my moms name you know." She said as she came around to Sarah's side of the car and helped her out of her seat

Sarah smiled looking up at her, "Really?" she said holding onto CAitlin's hand

"It sure is." She said with a small smile as they walked through the parking lot.

Sarah grinned, walking along with Caitlin happily

Once inside the two were lead to a booth and both handed a menu, Sarah handed a kids one a few coloring supplies as well. "I used to take my nieces here all the time when they were about your age." She said as she scanned through the menu

Sarah smiled happily with the coloring supplies in front of her and began to color in the picture, swinging her legs gently as she sat on the seat

"Pick anything you want" she said softly, her eyes now were the only thing visible as she looked over the menu at Sarah

Sarah nodded and looked at the menu, picking out a sandwich and a milkshake

Kate ordered as well before their server walked off leaving the two of them alone again. "I know you said you were living with your aunt, but what about your mom? Why don't you live with her?"

Sarah frowned, "I don't know.. " she said softly, she was never told about it, she was raised by her aunt for years and so that was all she knew

"That's fine, I was just curious." She said softly before she shook her head a little "I still can't believe you were in the vents all that time and we didn't realize it.

Sarah smiled looking at Kate, "I'm good at hide and seek" she said with a smile

"Now that I can definitely agree with." She said with a small laugh. "Do you have anyone you can stay with? Family, friends, anyone?"

Sarah frowned, and shook her head, "I stay at NCIS, lots of people there"

"You can't live in the wall for the rest of your life Sarah." She said with a small sigh. The child really was alone, and it became abundantly clear to Kate what she had to do. "I want you to stay with me."

Sarah tilted her head, "Why?" she asked simply, not quite understanding

"You need to live with someone who can protect you, and provide for you, and most of all love you... and I will be more than happy to do all three of those for you. No child should ever be left to defend for themselves like you were."

Sarah climbed off of the seat/bench she was sat on and moved to the other where Kate was sat, she hugged her tightly

Kate hugged her back, pulling Sarah onto her lap as she did. "I'm not seeing anyone, and I don't have any kids. It's just my dog and I, so believe me we'll have fun with it just being the two of us."

Sarah nodded happily, as she snuggled into her, "What's your dog's name?"

"Ava, and she loves kids. So I know she's just going to love you."

Sarah grinned, "I like that name"

"I did too." She said softly.

Sarah grinned as she snuggled into her side, feeling safe and she snuggled further in when the waitress approached.

The waitress placed both of their orders down in front of them with a smile before walking off to attend to other customers. "We can snuggle plenty once we're back at my apartment, right now you need to eat Sarah." She said giving her a small kiss on the head

Sarah began to eat happily, she had mostly been nervous because she didn't know the waitress. She was rather aware of other people and over cautious at times

About midway through the meal Kate glanced over at Sarah. "You're nearly done already? You must like your food huh?"

Sarah nodded, "Yum" she said with a smile, it was the best she had eaten in a long time

Kate watched Sarah in silence for a little while longer. She had never seen herself as the motherly type, the only experience she had with kids was with her nieces and she hadn't seen them in years, but there was just something about Sarah, something different that she loved right away.

Sarah smiled brightly at Kate, her eyes sparkled happily and she sat swinging her legs and sipping on her milkshake

Kate finished her food and drink before glancing back down at Sarah. "We could get you another milkshake to go if you wanted."

Sarah shook her head gently, "No thank you" she said with a smile as she finished up her food

She nodded a little. Once Sarah finished Kate paid the bill and led her by the hand out of the restaurant and back to her car. "If you want, I can take the day off of work tomorrow. I'll just say I'm sick or something."

Sarah looked at her, "Really?" she asked excitedly, spending the day with Kate made her rather excited

"I take it you want me to do it then?" She said smirking a little as she helped Sarah back into the car and buckling her in. "We'll have a girls day then."

Sarah nodded, "It sounds fun" she said then tilted her head, "What is a girls day?"

"It's a day with just the two of us and we do all kinds of fun stuff together. I used to have them with my nieces all the time."

Sarah smiled, "I like that" she said looking at Kate

"I should probably call my boss here shortly, she should probably know you've been taking refuge in the ventilation system for the past few months."

Sarah nodded, and yawned as she looked up at KAte

"Now let's get you back to my place, someone is starting to look a little sleepy." Kate said giving the child a small kiss on the head before closing the car door and climbing into the drivers seat.

Sarah rubbed her eyes tiredly and yawned again, "I'm not tired" she mumbled

"Sure you aren't." Kate said flashing a small smirk as she glanced up at Sarah though the rear view mirror as she pulled out of the parking lot

Sarah curled up in her sleep and shortly after getting out of the parking lot she had already fallen asleep curled up into Kate's jacket.

Kate arrived at her apartment about ten minutes later. She then carefully picked up the now peacefully sleeping Sarah and carried her inside.

Sarah snuggled into Kate and stirred a little as she was carried and opened her eyes gradually

Kate carried her through her apartment and into the master bedroom, Ava followed shortly behind. Once in the bedroom Kate gently laid Sarah on the bed.

Sarah kept a tight grip on KAte's shirt, not wanting to be left but soon noticed Ava and her eyes shot open and her smile widened as she began to stroke the dog that had jumped onto the bed

"Like I said, she loved kids." Kate said as she sat on the edge of the bed and took off her shoes

Sarah yawned again and was laying down stroking Ava, she struggled to keep her eyes open

"Come on, she can sleep up here with us, but you need to get some sleep." Kate said softly as she climbed in bed beside them

Sarah snuggled into Kate's side and fell asleep quickly listening to KAte's heartbeat and her hand in the fur of the dog beside them

Kate wrapped her arm around Sarah protectively. Eventually, she too dozed off


End file.
